Rossel’s title hopes crumble as Gryazin continues WRC2 dominance

Rossel began this penultimate round of the season well aware that only a victory would be enough to keep his championship hopes alive, but his rally began to unravel from the get-go. A broken wheel after an excursion on Thursday, followed by a lacklustre run through Friday, left him languishing far down the order.

Saturday turned out to be even more disastrous for the Frenchman when he slid his Citroën C3 Rally2 off the road on SS9, damaging the rear suspension. Although Rossel and co-driver Florian Barral managed to make repairs, the 14-minute time loss was insurmountable and effectively ended their title challenge.

Rossel's misfortune leaves only two drivers in the WRC2 title fight: Oliver Solberg and Sami Pajari. Neither are scoring WRC2 points this weekend, with Solberg having already completed the maximum seven rounds this season. The Swede currently leads the series but must wait until the FORUM8 Rally Japan season finale to see whether Pajari can better his score.

While Rossel faltered, Gryazin was in a league of his own. Starting the day with a 45.9sec advantage, the 27-year-old stretched his lead to 1min 50.8sec across six stages spanning Austria and Germany, with Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 driver Filip Mareš remaining his closest threat despite an overshoot on SS12. Gryazin also tops the WRC2 Challenger standings, keeping his hopes alive for that title, which will also be decided in Japan.

Further down the order, Polish duo Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Miko Marczyk were engaged in a fierce battle for the final podium spot. Marczyk, driving a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 was gifted an 18.2sec advantage over Kajetanowicz’s similar car after the three-time European champion misjudged his braking point and overshot a junction on the final stage of the day. Josh McErlean ended fifth, with local driver Marijan Griebel 5.1sec behind and rounding out the top six.

In the WRC Masters Cup, 2024 champion Armin Kremer is on track for yet another victory. The German veteran leads Eamonn Boland by more than 10 minutes in the category.